Curing Ferbicidis
by RedAstronaut
Summary: Ferb gets hit by one of Doofenshmirtz's Inators! And no one believes him! His struggles to communicate send him in search of a cure, leaving Phineas, the family, and their friends to worry. Phineas doesn't do well when he's worried. May count as a sickfic (It's a bit weirder than that). Lots of brotherly fluff. Not particularly PhinxFerb unless you'd like to read it as that.
1. Chapter 1

**Curing Ferbicidis**

Author's Note: I fell in love with Phineas and Ferb this summer. I just...I just had to write _something_. So here it is. I wrote this on my i-pod sitting in a tree while the sun was out. :)

I don't own Phineas and Ferb.

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><p>Phineas lay in bed staring at the ceiling. The sun was just rising and casting a golden glow on the room. Any minute…any minute…any second…<p>

**BEEPBEEP**-_SLAM._

Phineas sat up, hand still on the alarm highlighting 7:00 am. "Beat the clock again!" He announced, looking over to his brother in excitement. "Ferb! I already know what we're going to do to..." His smile faded.

Ferb turned over to face Phineas, still curled up in his blankets. His skin was a horrible sickly pale and he had a pain-stricken expression on his face. He coughed softly and clutched his blanket tighter.

"Whoa, Ferb, you look worse than yesterday!" Phineas pulled himself to sit on the end of the bed and watched Ferb meekly squint open his eyes and push his covers away halfheartedly. He forced himself up into a sitting position and gave weak thumbs up.

Phineas gave a weak smile back. "And you're SURE you're okay to go along with the days plans?"

Ferb's eyes snapped open all the way and in a flash he was up, dressed, and tooth-brushed.

Phineas' smile broadened. It was amazing that his brother could remain quiet and stoic an entire day and still find ways to show such amazing enthusiasm. "Sweet! Let's go down and get breakfast!" The boy jumped off the bed and ran to the open doorway, Ferb in tow.

Without warning Phineas stopped in his tracks. "Hey, where's Pe-" _BAM_. Ferb ran right into him, throwing them both into a tumble through the doorway and into the hall.

Heads dazed, they sat up, rubbing their backs and bottoms and cringing sorely. With a chuckle, Phineas looked up at Ferb. "Geez, coordination still waking up, bro?" Ferb flashed an apologetic smirk.

As they got up and brushed themselves off the sick boy added with a sniff, "I'm beginning to think we should put on our helmets as soon as we wake up."

* * *

><p>Perry felt bad about not getting up with the boys as he usually did, but Monogram had alerted him early for his daily assignment. He felt ashamed for feeling so relieved about it, but the last thing he wanted was to spend another second in a room with sick Ferb.<p>

Remembering yesterday's events, the platypus stuck out a tongue and applied a mask. The poor boy had thrown up RIGHT next to his bed. Fortunately Linda had cleaned up, but Perry could still smell it. He had refused to sleep in his bed until he caught Ferb's guilty glances. He eventually held his breath and pretended to sleep in it for a whole twenty minutes, _just_ to ease the boys' worries. What he did for family.

Donning his Fedora and fitting it snugly on his head, he snuck his way downstairs. He glanced around the corner into the kitchen to see the boys and Candace eating pancakes. Phineas was ecstatically explaining something about making bat wings to an amused Linda, who was handing Ferb a bowl of chicken noodle for him to eat. He set it down on the table in front of him with a small glint of disgust crossing his face, unseeable to an unfamiliar eye. Candace was picking at her food with her back hunched, apparently in a bad mood (as was usual when the boys talked of their inventions). Then Lawrence walked in and began talking about some kind of antique convention that day.

Perry smiled. He loved this family. He snuck into the living room and hopped up on to the couch. He pressed his webbed foot into the crease between cushions and the entire thing flipped, sending Perry into a chute. He held onto his hat tightly as he rocketed down, landing safely in his chair of the underground base. The screen flashed and Perry prepared for a crisp salute.

Monogram appeared on the screen, looking through a pile of papers intently. "Good morning, Agent P. Sorry for the early wake up, but Dr. Doofenshmir..." He looked up at Perry and raised an eyebrow. Or at least... Half of his brow. "Why are you wearing a mask again?" Perry realized he had forgotten about the mask. Flushed (or at least a deeper shade of blue), he ripped it off and put it aside.

Monogram smirked. "You really need to relax with the whole 'clean freak' thing. I mean come on, they're just germs." Perry glared and chattered. Off screen Carl chirped in, "I'm on your side, Agent P! You can't be too clean!"

"_CARL_!"

"I'm just saying sir!"

Perry rolled his eyes. _He woke up early for this_. Monogram cleared his throat in a fuss. "ANYWAY, Doofenshmirtz is making some kind of thingamajig, and you have to stop it. Good luck."

Perry saluted and made his way toward his hover jet before any more ridiculous shenanigans could transpire. The ceiling unfolded and he made his way into the sky. Flying over the Flynn-Fletcher house, he could already see Phineas and Ferb going through their book of blueprints.

* * *

><p>"<em>Bow chicka bow woww, that's what my baby says... Mow mow mow hm hm hmm hmm hm hm hmmm<em>NORM! Hand me that screwdriver!"

"Sure, Dad! Glad to have this father-son bonding!"

"For the last time you lunkhead, I'm not your father! OH." Doofenshmirtz pulled himself out from under his latest Inator in thought. "Speaking of fatherly duties, I was supposed to pick up Vanessa today!" He pulled himself up and ran for the phone. "And Perry the Platypus is due any minute! Norm, finish the inator while I call Vanessa!"

Norm saluted with his usual grin. "You can count on me, Dad!"

Doofenshmirtz started dialing quickly, mumbling to himself, "Yeah, just like how you can trust ME to build you an icicle pop wife."

"What was that Dad?"

"I said I'm NOT YOUR FATHER."

* * *

><p>Vanessa pulled out her headphones as the phone began to ring. Sighing, she ran to the charger and, preparing for what most likely will be a ridiculous conversation, picked up the phone. "Yeah, Dad?"<p>

"Oh hi Vanessa! How did you know it was me?"

"I figured, considering you were supposed to be here an HOUR ago. Mom left for work pretty angry about it."

"Oh GREAT. I've just been so busy making my new Inator, and Perry the Platypus isn't even here yet, so it might be a little while before I pick you up!"

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "So what kind of Inator is it THIS time?"

Dr. D stopped writing his "UNPLUG SHRINKINATOR" note in surprise. "You're actually Interested in my evil invention?"

"Well not re-"

"FANTASTIC! I'll tell you all about it!"

Vanessa face palmed.

"Well you know how when you're talking to a group of people and-" Doofenshmirtz heard what sounded like wood splintering apart. "Oh, I think Perry the Platypus just broke down the door, I gotta go! I'll tell you all about it when I pick you up, okay? Gottagobye!"

Vanessa put the phone back on the charger and walked off to her room.

"Whatever."

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><p>Doofenshmirtz ran into the main room to see Perry in his entry action pose, looking a bit confused. "Oh there you are Perry the Platypus!" he said, skidding to a halt in front of him. The mammal relaxed his kung-fu preparedness pose, looking at Doofenshmirtz quizzically.<p>

He looked up to see the edges of his sticky note poking into his peripheral vidion. "OH." He took it off and looked at it. "I really need to do that. Anyway Perry the Platypus, I'm really busy today, and Norm is still finishing up the Inator..."

"I was able to put the fire out all by myself, Dad!"

"I'm not your father! Anyway," he continued, ignoring the comment about the fire, "I'm just going to trap you and tell you my scheme as detailed as possible while he finishes up." Doofenshmirtz pulled a remote from His lab coat and pushed a button, sending a cage down from above and locking grumbling Perry inside, who could only think one thing; _I should have stayed in bed._

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><p>Phineas peered over their blueprints they had laid around their spot against the tree. Ferb sat beside him, trying not to doze off completely.<p>

As oblivious as he was, Phineas was well aware of his brother's act. He could read Ferb like an open book; one with words no longer than four letters and colorful illustrations on every other page. Unfortunately, he also knew that Ferb would continue this act for the rest of the day, no matter what. So he played along, cautiously watching his brother's health as the day wore on.

Right now, he was just trying to decide what project to do. They had already planned for the jungle safari adventure, but Phineas didn't think the sick boy could take all the work. He had hidden those specific blueprints underneath others. The two boys were supposed to be looking for it, but Phineas wasn't trying very hard.

With an over-the-top sigh that he hoped was more believable than he was thinking, Phineas shrugged and sat back against the tree. "Darn. Too bad we can't find it. I guess we'll have to do another project today." He looked over to Ferb, who was suddenly holding the safari blueprints with an expression that screamed, "Seriously?"

Phineas stared blank faced for a second before giving a weak smile. "Oh! You found it!" He stared a couple more seconds before giving a thumbs up. "...Great!"

Ferb rolled his eyes. "You're a terrible liar, Phineas."

"What? I wasn't-"

"You scratch your ear when you lie."

Phineas looked over at his hand, realizing he had been picking at his ear the entire time. "Oh." he said. Apparently Ferb knew him as well as he knew Ferb.

* * *

><p>Doofenshmirtz was already pacing when he began his emotionally-scarring back story.<p>

"You see, Perry the Platypus, back in Gimmulshtump, my parents would throw yearly parties in which I was FORCED to talk to large groups of _Fancy-shmancy_ people. But whenever I told a story, my HORRIBLE brother would always make offhand comments that would make the whole crowd of people laugh! But I didn't know what he said, and whenever I asked him what he said, he would say, '_Oh don't worry about it, it was nothing_'." He said his brothers part in a high pitched girly voice, which Perry found made absolutely no sense.

"But it wasn't nothing! I mean he said SOMETHING, I didn't know if he was even making fun of me or not! I mean if someone's going to make fun of you, at least make it APPARENT to the person you're making fun of so they know whether to vow revenge on you or not!" Perry wanted to face palm so hard. "And it wasn't just Roger! Everywhere I go, whenever I'm talking to people, SOMEONE has to make a comment that I can't make out and everyone LAUGHS, and no matter what they won't tell me what they said, it's maddening!"

At this point Norm stood up from working on the machine looming behind Doof. "I'm all done, Dad!"

Doofenshmirtz twirled around in surprise. "Wow, right on time Norm!" he turned back to Perry, who was feeling a bit cautious about an Inator that was made by Norm. "Behold, Perry the Platypus! The _**Spit-it-out-inator!**_"

Perry rolled his eyes at the name. Doofenshmirtz crossed his arms. "What? I think it's a great name!" He walked over and scooted it out to the deck, explaining, "With this, I can make ANYONE talk, whether they want to or not!" He stopped a second. "Well, I can if Norm built it right." He continued to make his way to the deck as Perry began thinking of a way to escape. Suddenly Doof stopped when the Inator was in place, gleefully squeeing, "Ooh! I gotta take a picture for my scrapbook!" He ran off, adding a quick, "And don't you try escaping Perry the Platypus!"

The platypus, however, was still trying to hold in laughter from thinking about Doof scrap booking.

Quickly he regained his demeanor and took out a small laser from under his hat. In seconds he had melted a doorway through the bars and was out. He looked over at the unguarded Inator. Even Norm seemed to have disappeared. Perry smirked. He could run over there and push it over the edge before Doof even got back. He started for a sprint toward the machine.

_**FLASH**_.

Perry's head swirled. He looked around quickly, his eyes readjusting. Doofenshmirtz was holding a camera, looking down at the screen in disgust. "Ugh, the contrast is ALL off. Here, lemme try again." He held the camera up. "Smile, Perry the Platypus!"

_**FLASH**_.

Perry's head spinned at a sickeningly fast speed. He wobbled. Before he knew it he was on his knees, holding on to the floor for dear life and seeing nothing but white.

Doofenshmirtz acted surprised. "Oh, how odd Perry the Platypus! That was a really bright flash... OH THAT'S RIGHT," he said, grinning deviantly, "This is my OTHER inator, the flash-inator! It does what the flash of a regular camera does to your head, only 50 TIMES WORSE." Perry's vision refused to return quick enough. All he could see was the doctor's feet. Perry chattered furiously. "That's right, I actually had ANOTHER plan to make sure my FIRST plan worked!" Doof raised his fists to the air in triumph. "Go me!"

Perry closed his eyes in uncomfort. The room was still spinning, but he had an idea of where the spit-it-out-inator was. Dipping his fedora in front of his eyes, he took a starting jump and sprint on all fours for what he hoped was the inator. Doof yelled behind him, flashing the camera nonstop. Perry kept his eyes closed and continued forward. He was starting to see bright red below his eyelids, but he continued forward.

_Slam_.

He had rammed headfirst into the Inator. And it was suddenly counting down. And Doof was still yelling. And as he felt his consciousness dissolving, he heard Heinz say in a distant voice...

"Wait, Norm. Did you say it was on FIRE?"

* * *

><p>"Ferb, could you hand me the protractor?" Phineas held out his hand, still gazing over their blueprints. He wanted to make a few modifications to the design.<p>

After a few seconds Ferb handed him something. Phineas looked at it.

"Ferb, this is a banana." Ferb looked up from his welding in surprise. He looked over to a smirky Phineas. "And you were supposed to have eaten it an hour ago." He handed it back to Ferb, who took it guiltily. Phineas smiled and turned his back to Ferb to look at the blueprints.

Ferb took the opportunity to chuck the banana into the neighbors yard.

He was, in all truth, feeling horrible. He felt dizzy and spaced out. His body ached. He had to swallow his coughing (which is quite difficult), he felt like he was going to throw up, and he wasn't hungry in the slightest.

And he really, REALLY needed to sneeze. He was at the mid-point where his nose was burning but the sneeze wouldn't come. Desperately he looked toward the sky, looking for the sun.

Instead he found a green orb of fire hurtling toward their backyard.

He looked over to Phineas, who's back was still turned. Ferb knew he couldn't pull them both out of the way in time.

He jumped in front of Phineas.

The orb hit him square in the chest.


	2. Chapter 2

**Curing Ferbicidis**

Author's note: I was excited to post, so this one is slightly shorter than Chapter one. I'm currently busy moving between cities so I'm very busy. The next chapter could be a day to two weeks from now. :(  
>The hardest character to write in this chapter was actually Buford, shockingly. I kind of realized that Buford has such a strange mix of bully moments and regular moments and nice moments that it's really hard to play them correctly.<p>

The hardest part of writing the NEXT chapter though, is trying to figure out what Ferb is going to say... :L

Enjoy, please rate and review! :) And thank you to all of the reviewers and watchers and stuff! I got 29 emails in one day from fanfiction JUST about this story.

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><p>"<em>Perry the Platypus<em>?"

The semi-aquatic egg-laying mammals of action's senses were returning at a horribly slow rate. His eyes still felt glued shut, and his hearing gave every sound around him a distant effect. And to top it all off he had a massive headache.

Something must have gone DOWN last night, because he was pretty sure he had a massive hangover.

He opened his eyes a sliver, and with his vision adjusting he could see that it was still daytime. He let his mind recover the memories of what had happened as his vision adjusted of two men looming over him, one in a lab coat and one in a suit.

"_I think you broke him, Dad_."

"_Do you think so_?"

"_Yes, Dad_."

"_It was rhetorical and I'm not your father_!"

Perry's eyes sprung open. In a flash he was at least 3 feet away from a smiley Norm and shocked Doofenshmirtz...who was holding a stick. The platypus lowered his guard.

_They had just been poking me with a stick. Of course._

"Perry the platypus!" Doofenshmirtz shouted, springing to his feet from his crouched position. "I thought you were dead!"

The platypus glared (attempting to get the message across that you don't poke people with sticks if they're dead) before turning his attention to his surroundings. He had woken up several feet away from where he had fallen, and beside him laid the remains of a thoroughly explosion-damaged _spit-it-out-inator_. He looked down at himself, noticing the black and burnt fur covering the entire left side of his body.

He looked up to Doofenshmirtz for answers. The doctor folded his arms and shrugged nonchalantly. "You rammed into it and fainted. Then it exploded because Norm screwed up the wiring." He jabbed a thumb in Norm's direction.

The robot turned his smile upside down. "I can't be perfect Dad!"

"For the last time, I'm not your father." Doofenshmirtz then pointed behind Norm. "Now go to your closet and think long and hard about what you did wrong." Norm did so, slamming the door behind him.

Doof let his arms droop and back slouch (more so). "Ugh, Robots. They're so angsty." He walked over to the black smears still covering the floor from the explosion and put his hands on his hips. "Well, I guess we're done with that!"

He blanked out for a beat before yelping in shock, "AGH! I have to go pick Vanessa up!" He sprinted into another room, before poking his head back out to a slightly smoking Perry the Platypus who was tapping his foot impatiently.

Doof chuckled awkwardly. "Heh heh, I forgot. Curse you Perry the Platypus!"

Dipping his hat in acknowledgment, said Platypus pulled a jet pack out of nowhere and zoomed out. He was glad he had the rest of the day off to spend with the boys and whatever they were building.

* * *

><p>Phineas yanked his nose out of the ground from falling into it face first, rubbing it achingly.<p>

"Ferb, as much as it pains me to say it, you're just too sick to be worki-" Phineas turned around to look at his brother, who was still laying on his back in the grass, head on Phineas' back.

"Ferb?" he asked cautiously. The sick boy did not respond. Phineas managed to lay Ferb's head in the grass and go to his side.

He grabbed his wrist. _Heart rate steady..._

He looked at him. _Obviously still breathing._

Phineas sat back in slight bewilderment. "You must have fainted from overexertion! I knew we shouldn't have done this today!"

He leaned forward again to snap his fingers in the boys face. "Ferb?" he continued to snap and clap over his head. "Ferb...Ferb, wake up!" Feeling a sour feeling in his stomach, he started shaking the boy's shoulder, calling out his name frequently. He refused to wake up.

Phineas was not a boy built for panic. It was almost impossible. He couldn't remember a single situation in which he'd lost it. Not completely at least. He was not a person who was supposed to panic.

And there Ferb was, sick and unconscious.

"Oh man," he mumbled, grabbing Ferb's arms and dragging him to the sliding glass door.

"Yeah, Stacy. A zebra. That's my deepest darkest secret...What do you MEAN that's lame? He shows up EVERYWHERE, even-" Candace heard knocks on the sliding glass door. She turned to see Phineas knocking frantically.

"Brothers. Call you back." she hung up the phone and basically threw the door to the side. "What are you doing now, Phineas? What's todays big invention?"

Phineas opened his mouth to speak. Candace continued, "Can't you two see I have a life?"

"Um, Candace-"

"Why can't you guys be regular kids?"

"Candace."

"I mean REALLY. Do you know how hard it is to supervise you two?"

"Candace."

"Well things are gonna change today, Phineas. I'm going to bust you, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

"Fer-"

"You two are going down..."

"Candace."

"DOWN..."

"Candace!"

"DOW-"

"CANDACE!"

The teenager jumped out of her skin. Phineas' angry outbursts sent shivers down her spine. She looked down at her redheaded brother with an expression...She couldn't even figure it out. There was a hint of something that was so rare on Phineas' face that her brain simply didn't register it.

"Something is wrong with Ferb!"

Candace stared. She looked directly behind Phineas to see an unconscious Ferb.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" She yelled, making Phineas cringe. Immediately Candace ran to Ferb, picking him up gingerly and making her way to his and Phineas' bedroom, brother on her heels.

"I knew he was sick this morning, but he really wanted to go forward with the day's activities! I think he strained himself somehow. I had my back turned and he just fell!" Phineas explained as they made their way up the stairs. Candace kicked the door to their room open and laid Ferb down in his bed.

"Phineas, grab the thermometer." Phineas sprinted, coming back in a matter of seconds. Candace (reluctantly) put the thermometer in Ferb's mouth.

She looked over to Phineas, who was still looking at Ferb with a blank expression. Sighing, she reassured, "He'll be fine. It's just a cold." The girl walked to the door. "I'm going to call mom. Tell me iffffffWHEN.." She corrected herself, in fear on making Phineas more worried. "...WHEN he wakes up."

The boy gave a thumbs up and sat down on his own bed, never drawing his eyes away from his sleeping brother.

Buford slammed open the gate door of the backyard. His eyes widened to see...Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just an empty backyard. And Isabella.

He dropped the underwear he was holding, releasing Baljeet from his wedgie. Neither of them noticed though. Baljeet just stood up and looked around in similar shock, eventually looking to Isabella, who had her back turned and was...just...standing.

Eventually Baljeet cleared his throat. "Um, Isabella? Is there any specific reason why Phineas and Ferb's backyard is _completely empty_?"

She spun around, making both boys jump a little. "I don't know! I just came walking in like every other day! And I said, "Hey Phineas, what'cha doin'? And no one answered! **NO ONE**!" By now she was grabbing Buford by the shirt in her hysterics.

"Phineas is supposed to answer! While they're doing stuff! They might be..." She dropped Buford, looking back into the backyard as if it was a never ending sea. "**DEAD**."

"They probably just woke up late!" Buford stated annoyed. However, Baljeet shuddered.

"I agree with Isabella, an empty backyard is much too strange. They are probably dead," he said, cautiously looking around while trying to stuff his underwear back into his overalls. Buford huffed and yanked them back out, sending Baljeet into another fit of screaming.

"You guys just jump to conclusions." He turned toward the house, resting his fist in his palm pointedly. "But man, if they ARE dead, I'm gonna kill em! I need something to do during the day!"

Out of nowhere a walkie-talkie fell from the sky in a little parachute. Confused, they all looked up to see Phineas waving from his bedroom window.

"Phineas!" Isabella yelled in delight. Phineas put a finger to his lips, trying to get them to be quiet. He then ducked back into his room. The three in the backyard looked at each other in confusion.

Suddenly the walkie-talkie burst into sound. "Hey guys!" Phineas' static voice sounded. They ran over and Isabella picked it up.

"Phineas, what'cha doin? Why are you up there? Are you and Ferb OK?"

"Oh yeah, we're fine! Well, I am." Phineas stopped for a moment, leaving time for the three to give another round of confused glances at each other. Phineas continued, "He got sick yesterday and he fainted a couple minutes ago. I'm waiting for him to wake up. Oh, hold on..." he said. The speaker shut off. Buford, Isabella, and Baljeet stared at the walkie-talkie.

Baljeet gave an uncomfortable chuckle. "Well, at least they are not _dead_."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **Ahhhhhh I actually updated! :D Everyone has been so supportive of this story, and I'd like to thank all of the people who have favorited and reviewed and waited ever so patiently for the next update. This chapter is a_ little_ more serious than the other one's, but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless. I'll try and update maybe weekly from here on out. :)

Please review! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE because I LOVE them!

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><p>Phineas clicked the walkie-talkie off and set it quietly on the desk, looking over at the sound of Ferb's movement. The sickly brother turned to his side painfully.<p>

Phineas started walking toward the foot of the bed when Ferb's eyes suddenly sprung open, whole body jolting up as if from a bad dream, with a stream of jumbled words flowing out of his mouth.

"_Phineasthelightwhat'shappened_-"

He clapped his hands over his mouth tightly. He looked up at a taken aback Phineas, who after a moment laughed hesitantly. "You okay, Ferb?"

Ferb didn't feel okay. However, he tried to give a persuasive thumbs up, but the words started spilling out again.

"_I'mfinebuttheballoflightareyou_-"

He slapped his hand back to his mouth and sunk in his sheets. He felt hideous, exhausted, and absolutely confused as to why he was deciding to be so talkative suddenly.

The green beam of light flashed in his memory.

He tries to open his mouth to explain what had happened to Phineas, who was clutching his bedpost with utter perplex.

"_Whenwewereoutsi_-" Ferb stopped and tried to slow down, which was extremely and mind-bogglingly exhausting for no reason he could understand. "When. We. Were. Outside. Light. Beam," he clapped his hands on to his mouth to stop himself. He already needed a break.

He tried to continue. "Buh-b-beam..." a swelling headache erupted in his cranium, and he blacked out for a split second. When he was conscious again, Phineas was at the side of his bed, looking shocked. And he was babbling like a madman.

Phineas called to Candace, and she came in within seconds. They stood trying to calmly relax Ferb, but he couldn't control it.

_"Ican'tcontrolitatalli'msorrybutit'snotmebeingsickit'sprobably_-"

Phineas talked over him slowly, "Ferb, you gotta try to relax, I can't understand what you're saying..."

Candace plugged her ears in frustration. "He's delirious! We should take him to a hospital! ARGH IT'S SO ANNOYING!" She briskly grabbed Phineas by the arm and pushed him out the door into the hallway. "I need to calm him down, go call for Jeremy. He can drive us."

Phineas seemed seriously conflicted by this turn of events. He looked back at Ferb desperately. "But Ferb-"

"Yes, Ferb!"

"C-can't you..."

"Can't I what?"

They were standing outside the room now, door closed behind them, with Ferb's babbling still fairly discernible.

Phineas looked up at Candace desperately. "Can't I just watch over Ferb and you call Jeremy and stuff?"

Candace stared at her brother a moment before sighing. "Phineas, I know that you guys usually stick together and stuff. You're like the super duo of summer or whatever! But right now I need to be the adult and you need to do what's best for Ferb, okay?"

"Can I at least-"

"Go downstairs and call Jeremy. Tell him to come over right away. Then go get Ferb some cold water, an icepack, and anything else he may need. Okay?"

"Baljeet, Buford and Isabella are over. They can help."

"Good. Now go," Candace said, grabbing Phineas' arm before he sped off. "He's going to be absolutely fine, Phineas, okay?"

Phineas smiled and ran down the stairs. Candace knew that she couldn't stop him from worrying.

She opened the door again, preparing for work. She was shocked to find Ferb sitting on the floor haphazardly, cramming socks into his mouth.

"FERB," she yelled angrily, storming over and falling to her knees in front of him, yanking the socks out. Ferb clapped his hands over his mumbling mouth just as the words began to spill out, apologetic gaze transfixed on his sister.

"I swear, you're the most brilliant boys I'll ever know and yet you do the _stupidest_ things. Come on." She helped him up (carrying most of his weight) back into bed, which was very difficult when Ferb refused to remove his hands from his mouth.

When he fell into the bed, his whole body sagged and closed his eyes painfully. Candace could tell that his energy was completely drained.

"We're going to take you to the hospital, okay? Are we going to need to carry you?"

Ferb shook his head hurriedly. He took a deep breath and released his hands.

"Talking. Isn't. Cuz. Of. Si-hickuh...SICK." he gave up again, clutching his mouth desperately.

Candace frowned. "Ferb, you're really sick. You're not thinking straight. You need to just rest and relax, okay?"

Ferb winced in frustration. How was he supposed to get the message across? He didn't need to go to the hospital. He hated hospitals, they wouldn't be able to help, and Phineas and him could fix this all in moments if he could only communicate...

He thrust himself out of his bed, to the surprise of Candace. He staggered and fell, but made it to Phineas' raft to lean against, breathing hard.

"Ferb, what are you doing? I just told you to-FERB!"

He climbed over the bed to Phineas' bed stand painfully, still mumbling madly. Everything ached. He opened the drawer to find their notebook and pens. He grabbed them just as Candace had grabbed him, dragging him by the waist back to his bed.

"_You...are...being...more annoying than...usual...today...Ferb!_"

* * *

><p>Isabella had never seen Phineas' so worried. The expression of concern that passed over his face when he thought no one was looking... It was championed only by his despair on the little island they had nearly been stranded on.<p>

Of course, it only made him step up his leadership abilities. Buford, Baljeet and herself were going left and right in the cramped little garage, "fixing up" the car.

"Um, Phineas? Why are we making your mom's car capable of flight again?" Isabella asked as she bolted something together. She wasn't sure what it was, but Phineas had said to do it, and it was the worst day to question him on his engineering capabilities.

Phineas withdrew himself from his trance as he drilled into the side door. "So that when Jeremy gets here, we can legally drive this without having to deal with traffic. We can get to the hospital faster."

Baljeet poked his head up from the other side of the car. "Phineas, I feel you may be exaggerating the extremities of this situation. From what you have told me of his condition, it is merely a cold! I am sure he will be fine in days!"

Phineas didn't say anything. He was either too absorbed in the drills he was making, or he just didn't agree.

After a few moments awkward silence, Isabella cleared her throat, asking, "How was he when you brought that water up?"

"He was still talking a lot about big lights, but there was about a hundred rolled up papers all over. All of them were just covered in scribbles though."

"Oh."

Buford mumbled, "Didn't know someone could go crazy in a day."

For the first time, Baljeet kicked him so hard that Buford had to try not to yelp.

* * *

><p>"Okay, you know the rules: Don't leave the bed, don't write...<em>Scribblydoos<em>," Candace paused to look around. Paper littered everything. She was sitting on the only non-paper littered spot: Phineas' raft. Ferb lay sprawled out on his own bed, eyes shut and breathing slowly, hands still holding his mouth.

"Just... Lie there and relax as much as possible. They'll help you out more at the hospital-YES," Candace added, when Ferb turned his pleading bloodshot eyes her way, "You HAVE to go! Even if you have to stay there for a week! As long as it takes, okay?"

Ferb gave her a split second of what looked like anger before closing his eyes again. It somehow had the effect of making Candace feel disappointed in herself. Was she missing something here?

Candace sighed and stood up. "I'll go see how Phineas is doing. I'll be up here again when Jeremy comes, okay?"

She didn't wait for a reply; Candace was used to Ferb's silence, and was learning that she definitely preferred it.

The second Ferb heard his sister gently close the door and walk down the steps, he sprung from his bed (this time on tip toes) to retrieve the pen and paper again. He snatched them up and quickly crawled back to his bed, mumbling the entire time to his own annoyance.

He took a deep breath and clutched the pencil tightly. He slowly touched it to the paper, focusing all of his concentration.

His hand gave an unnatural jerk and began scribbling away barely legible wording. He pulled the pencil away and fell back into his pillow in frustration. Every means of communication was going to be affected by this. He had already thought of whipping up a mind reading device, so that he could explain to Phineas the real reason behind his maddening speech problem, but he'd probably just fry his brother's brain with a million babbling thoughts.

Meaning that Ferb had no way of communication, and therefore was alone. Even Phineas couldn't help.

Jeremy would arrive in about seven minutes. After that he'd be sent to a hospital. He doctors would assume that his speech problem was a symptom of whatever sickness he had, left unaware of the external effects that had led him to it. Then he'd be given incorrect treatment for an incorrect sickness, and spend the rest of the summer in one of the least creative places on earth, most likely getting worse.

He couldn't do that. He just couldn't.

He stood up shakily and looked out the window into the backyard, hands over his mouth again.

The sun was out, the sky was blue, and the tree and grass were a brilliant green.

That wasn't what he was focusing on.

He had been standing with Phineas on the left side of the yard. The beam had come from the right side and beyond. He decided on an estimate on the angle of trajectory that the green orb must have taken. His mumbling turned into recitations of the angle and direction in which the light traveled.

* * *

><p>Perry watched mindlessly as Phineas attached the rockets. He was being patient, but Phineas had taken no notice of him yet.<p>

After two minutes of silence and sitting in the garage, Perry chattered loudly.

Phineas turned, surprised. "Oh, there you are Perry."

Perry was disturbed. Phineas was completely out of it today. The boy picked him up and carried him into the house.

"We just got done putting jets on the car so that we can get to the hospital quicker."

Hospital? Did he miss something when he was away?

"Ferb's in a really poor state. It's just a cold, fortunately." Well, that didn't sound very optimistic or confident, did it? How bad is he?

Phineas set him down on the cozy carpet at the bottom of the stairs. "I'm going to go check on him, okay? Go enjoy your platypus duties of the day." He said, smiling down. Perry chattered, at least content that Phineas could still at least act cheerful.

He pattered over to his bed, spinning around to find the most comfortable position.

He wasn't asleep two minutes when Phineas came running down the stairs, skipping steps by the sound of it.

"Feeeerb!" he called out around the house. Perry felt his organs twisting slowly. That definitely wasn't right. Shouldn't Ferb be in bed? He followed Phineas' quickstep as he searched every crevice of house, calling out with a hint of more nervousness each time.

He swung the door open to the garage, where Isabella, Buford and Baljeet looked up from their work. Phineas spent only a moment to call out for their help in looking for Ferb before continuing the search, all of them pouring out from the garage and spreading out among the house.

Candace came out of the kitchen carrying a steaming bowl of Chicken Noodle before dropping it and adding to the search.

After five minutes, they went and checked the front and backyard.

After two more minutes, they checked the neighbors.

After an hour of re-checking every nook and cranny, panic chilled the summer air.

Phineas stopped in his tracks on the front porch, looking left and right down the street. Perry was at a loss too. A sudden panic clenched at both of them.

Phineas let out an unnatural breath. Perry looked up to see a look of desperation on his face.

"Where..." he whispered, clenching his hands in frustration. "Why...Where did he go? What if he's out in the city, sick? He collapsed earlier today from barely anything! And we don't even know where he went…" he stopped and stood in silence before he seated himself on the front step, looking beyond. Perry sat on his side and chattered comfortingly. Phineas scratched his head.

Candace came from inside of the house, clutching the phone. It wasn't flipped open. "We're...not calling mom yet," she said, "We should go out and look for him first. When mom and dad come home, then we'll call."

Phineas still had his back turned to her, looking out towards the street. Eventually he stood up and pulled a crumpled paper from his pocket.

"I went through all of those papers. Most of them weren't legible, but this one was. It was taped to the window."

Candace took it and unraveled it quickly. She looked at it unamused.

"Phineas, this is just as horrible as all the others."

"Nonono," Phineas said, bringing her to hold it lower so that he could see it, "See, this is a G...r...e e n... And then THIS is a B...e...a...m." he drew each letter with his finger. Candace was amazed. It just looked like scribbles to her. Eventually though, they could see the full message.

_Green beam.  
>Be back soon.<br>Voice not sick._


End file.
